Before you read this: No, I am not arguing that we should be flying if there is danger. No, I do not believe that the authorities acted badly by cancelling flights last Thursday. Yes, I agree that environmentally London and Europe without air traffic is a marvellous thing!

Remember, I have no inside knowledge of the Met Office, NATS, any civil aviation authority, volcanology, meteorology or the aviation business at all. What I am is a questioning member of the public, stranded in London, but with wonderful friends supporting me such that it doesn’t matter that I never made my flights. So here’s what I question…From the public view it looks like this is what happened:

1. Met Office shows an Ash Cloud

This leads to:

2. NATS looking up the guidelines and saying “No Tolerance on Volcanic Ash”

Which leads to:

3. All airspace being closed

What it looks like to me is that there was almost a religious blind allegiance to science reports, previous guidelines and almost a “faith” in science by governments, official bodies and the media. At no time in the media or in the public or apparently behind closed doors until 5 days after it was all shut down were questions and communications happening. Where/when were the following questions being asked?

a. At what concentrations of volcanic ash will an engine fail? This is important, because if it means that one piece of dust is enough to destroy a plane then planes have been designed very poorly. More importantly it leads to answering “how much dispersion is required?” Now I know that if a plane flew into a flock of birds all engines might die, but do we stop flying because there are birds in the air?

b. Where are the concentrations of this ash? Reading the Met office web page their say their instruments can “detect” the ash but not tell the concentrations. So who was going up there to test it? Were they able to test it everywhere?

c. All reports indicate that the Met office was/is using computer modelling to predict the dispersion. What is the accuracy rate of these models? On what science is it based? I’m not saying they’re wrong, I’m asking the question.

d. Airplane companies needed to ask the question of “What can we do to alleviate the situation?” This is an extraordinary situation and while the airlines did finally try flying in it, maybe the airlines could have thought of new solutions. Perhaps ferrying passengers to various locations. They are now doing that but, really… does it take 6 days for someone to come up with the solution?

All this seems to me as if a whole pile of bureaucracy never bothered to do proper science, proper questioning and certainly proper project and disaster management. Realistically, second day of such an event, all of these questions and thoughts should have been going in people’s heads.Look I don’t want to be flying if there is a danger, but flying *is* dangerous. There are many hazards out there, there are volcanoes in other parts of the world, there are other things that bring planes down. Just communicate that these questions are being asked and answered, that none of the answers are just guesses and guesstimates! The more that they are guesses the more likely none of us will fly to the UK or Europe again if the danger persists.

The biggest problem for me is not that this all happened, that no one was willing to question any official line, science, paradigm, statement or guideline. It’s almost like they are treating science as a religion: “Thou must not fly in Volcanic Ash”. I want the human species to question and complain, because through that comes innovation and advance, it’s how we got to having giant metal birds in the sky in the first place.Now, admittedly, the air in London is clean, it is a bright sunny day and no sound of thundering jets. I question the necessity of planes and I question whether we need such air travel, perhaps this will allow us the opportunity to have a look at other alternatives.

To those that say, “thank goodness there are no flights” that’s because you haven’t been disrupted. Yet. Our world is interconnected and we are able to do the things we do because of how we have run the world to this point. In that same vein, do not complain when economies crumble, when you get laid off, when things don’t arrive and when you cannot get the goods you want.

Nothing is isolated and the volcano and last year’s recession have shown that. If you are perfectly willing to go or have gone to a shopping mall and buy a rose for a loved one, then do not complain over air traffic. Roses in England almost all come from Kenya by air freight at this time of year. And because of that, people in poor countries are laid off and worse is yet to come for them. This is the world that we have built

I’ve tinkered with being self-employed before. When I was working at Memorial University just after finishing my degrees a friend of mine and I formed a company to do side work (called DigitalRnD). Later in life I took side projects and side contracts here and there. However, I was always aware of where my next pay check was coming from. Not so much anymore. I am truly out in the cold wilderness of the unknown.

Nowadays, people keep asking me, “what the heck are you up to?”

My parents are wondering whether I have gone insane.

The parents of my friends are wondering if I have gone insane.

Can Dups feed himself? Is he okay? Oh heck, screw Dups, how’s his long suffering cat doing?

Let me put the rumours to an end. I am not selling my body on the streets of Montreal. But yes, I recently decided it was time to see what the hell all this “entrepreneurial” spirit is all about.

Now admittedly, I might actually be insane but really is that a surprise to anyone?

So let me answer the question as to what the heck I’m actually doing.

First and foremost, I’m taking on the challenge of leading a startup through its paces into the limelight. I wish I could get into exactly what it’s all about, but I can’t just yet. Suffice it to say it should be a bit of fun no matter which direction it goes in. If you have a pile of money or know some interesting tech-related investors get in touch with me and we’ll talk about Non-Disclosures and stuff like that.

Secondly, I want to take on numerous projects (programming, writing, photography and personal), that I have always wanted to do. Some of these involve trying to pay my way through some freelancing, some consulting and perhaps even some photography. Hopefully I’ve learned one or two things in life that might be of interest to someone out there and they might actually be willing to pay me for that knowledge and some hard work. The name of that little venture, I’ll divulge in the next few weeks, I’m just getting some logos finished for now.

Thirdly, I want to work on a couple of software projects that I’ve wanted to open source for years. This will also be done as part of the second thing for which I’m working on logos, so more details to come.

All this comes at a cost. It’s not a small one either. It means less of having what I want and doing a lot more with less. It means staring down that precipice of the unknown and having no choice but to downclimb with no idea of how or what’s actually below and to top it all off, there’s no sense of security in any part of the climb.

It’s scary and exciting all at the same time. It’s the same feeling I have when travelling and coming to a place and not knowing where I’m going to sleep, just magnified a few more times

And this is where my most awesome friends come in. I often say how incredible my friends are. As I set down this path, the most amazing thing to me is how supportive all my friends are being and how helpful. I know that there will be days to come which will make me weep with frustration and I know that I’ll have friends who will stand by me on those days. No matter, success or fail, it’s the human spirit and kindness that truly make a difference in the world.

I hope this answers those questions about “what the heck am I up to?”

Matt Harding formerly a game designer working with Pandemic in Australia, he now travels the world courtesy of Stride Gum dancing with people (his original he did on his own and became a cult hit on the Internet). You may think it’s silly but think of what this is actually showing. It’s an affirmation of humanity in all its forms just being human. Regardless of race, creed, location it’s just plain fun. I think we forget that sometimes. Plus the music is cool. Matt, cheers to you and keep it up, it always brings a smile to my face!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

A question I’m sure that is going through many minds this year. And if it isn’t, what’s wrong with you?

Okay, perhaps you haven’t heard about the contest. Fine. Here are the details, go enjoy a few drinks this weekend, toast Saint Patrick and give us a call at +1 317 644-6963. There are more details on the St. Pats Drunk Dial web site.

This year has seen a few firsts. I’m using Skype-In to record all the messages and in fact had the opportunity to choose a 317 area code in commemoration of March 17th. This year also saw our first radio interview for the contest. Jeff Gilhooly of the CBC Morning Show in St. John’s Newfoundland gave us a call and interviewed myself and Craig Welsh. Unfortunately I keep waking up late in Montreal and keep missing the broadcast. I think it might have run yesterday or today, if anyone has heard it give me a shout will you?

So what are you waiting for? Get those St. Patrick’s Day plans a-ready! For those in Montreal, the party is at my place. I heartily invite all who I know  to have a good time and most importantly, dial the number and give us a story or two!

This year has not been the best year in terms of escaping without injury when doing stupid things. I’ve refrained from posting about many of them as chances are word will reach my parents and then all hell will break loose. However, since I will be travelling to see them in a few weeks, I suspect that I will have to explain to them in person how they raised such an accident prone son. Yes, I do realize that “accident prone” may not be a good description but instead “stupid”. However, I leave that to your fine judgements.

At the beginning of the year I managed to discover that flying can really hurt. I became airbourne going down a run at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and managed to spectacularly wipe out into a belly flop that left ribs cracked. I was most saddened that there was no one to witness this heroic feat. Of course things might have been better had I not gone out partying that night or perhaps attempting to snowboard again the next morning despite the best advice my friends could give. After a few months of excruciating pain when laughing, I thought the worst was over.

My next set of injuries hurt my ego more than anything else. The week before I left Alberta for good, I decided to visit the Rocky Mountains one more time and climb Grotto Mountain with the Alpine Club. It was as if the mountain itself was angry with my decision to leave Alberta and therefore, literally, and thoroughly kicked my arse. I managed to fall down a fair bit, including once when I was just standing and not even moving. My tail bone hurt and then I managed to stub my knee into a jagged rock while trying to take a photo.

I decided that, well, I could understand the mountains being angry with me, after all I was leaving them. Little did I know what was to come next.

While visiting my friend’s parent’s farm in Ontario, I managed to almost chop my finger off with an axe. I had been resting the axe (which had just been sharpened) on a piece of wood on the sweltering day. Stupidly my hand was on the wood, which at that very moment decided that it had had enough of being set upon and slipped out of reach. The axe fell and went almost clean through my finger. With a great shout I ran indoors shouting to my friend’s dad: “Mr. MacDonald, Mr. MacDonald, I’ve done something bad!” I might as well have been seven years old.

But that turned out okay, the doctors sewed my finger back on, made fun of me at the hospital (“So any of you single nurses feel like taking this man on?”) and they gave me a lollipop.

Now you would think that that would be enough for one year right?

You forget whose blog your reading. This is the man whose tent almost floats away in a Siberian river flood, who wonders whether Air Canada has a permanent file on him, who manages to get in trouble on a sunny day when there is no one around him for miles.

Last night while cooking supper for some people, I tried to pick up a pot whose temperature had reached well beyond the point of boiling. With my bare hands… guess which finger I have now had to apply burn medication to?

In a couple months, I’m sure I’ll manage to get it frost-bitten.

What the hell?

Sometimes life takes a turn that you really didn’t expect.

I have always felt that my life has been that of a hobo, in fact I kind of describe it like that of the “Littlest Hobo”. The theme song pretty much sums up my life. Every six or so years it seems that I get rid of everything, say good bye to all that I know and go somewhere else so that I can wreak havoc and mayhem. From Sri Lanka to Papua New Guinea, PNG to Hong Kong, HK to St. John’s NL, SJ to Kelowna, Kelowna to Edmonton and finally now to Montreal.

I the past month, I have taken a position with MySQL (very happily), quit BioWare (very sadly), packed up my life, sold my furniture, said good bye to some amazing people and co-workers and driven clear across the country. I am now sitting in Niall and Rebecca’s living room, typing madly on his laptop and about to go explore the city for which I have given everything up.

In all things, I suspect that there is very little that stays permanent in my life. In a certain sense that is very sad, in others it is very exciting. As I was driving across the varied landscape of Canada (just wait, I have video…) I thought to myself that in all the world there are few things in life which stay the same. Ultimately, I realized, in my own life the only thing that has remained a constant is the love I have for my amazing friends.

Yes, I did shed tears on leaving Edmonton. Was it giving up the dream of working for BioWare? Was it the thought of leaving Edmonton’s fine River Valley? Drunk and dancing in the first dance bar I went to in Edmonton (Suite 69), I cried because I was leaving an amazing group of friends, unbelievable co-workers and irrepressible bosses. It might also have been the 20 shots of vodka that I had been forced to drink.

So am I forgiven for the lack of updates to this site? Fear not, so much is coming, so much change… From the lyrics to “Maybe Tomorrow”, the theme song for the Littlest Hobo and probably my own life…

There’s a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road is where I’ll always be

Every stop I make, I’ll make a new friend
Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

Down this road, that never seems to end,
Where new adventure, lies just around the bend.

So if you want to join me for a while
Just grab your hat, come travel light - that’s hobo style.

There’s a world, that’s waiting to unfold,
A brand new tale, no one has ever told,

We’ve journey’d far but, you know it won’t be long,
We’re almost there and we’ve paid our fare, with the hobo song.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

It’s 3am on the dot. I stood in line in the pouring rain to get in to see Spiderman 3. I now understand 1983. I know what it must have felt like for audiences to stare blankly at the movie screen and see the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. I know what that must have felt like. Finally.

Imagine you are at a party. The wine is flowing and an undercurrent of music plays to a backdrop of buzzing conversation. A young woman comes forward aiming directly for you, her fingers tightly wrapped around the glass she is sipping, her eyes inquiring. She asks, “Hi, who are you?” and my question to you is what do you answer?

Naturally you will tell her your name, it would be rude not to. But what else, how will you explain your presence, what is the first thing by which you define yourself? “I work at Acme Corp.”, “I play with John on the squash team”, “I am in the army”, “I am John’s cousin”. At the very core, that initial reach into your mind to introduce yourself is how you have chosen to define yourself to someone else.

We spend most of our lives collecting labels. At first we are the son or the daughter, the child and the teenager, a boy or a girl, tall or short, thin or fat, later in life the labels become more complex but still just as sticky. People will look at you and label you as funny and smart, dour and boring, pretty and dumb, ugly and quick-witted. Out of these myriad of labels we choose the best (or sometimes the worst) to define ourselves with. It is how we choose to introduce ourselves. It is how we choose to act in others’ presences and it’s what gives us meaning in life. In other words, ambitions are derived from how we choose to define ourselves.

For example, a child who has defined themselves as an artist will try to become the best artist in whatever forum s/he is given play in. Similarly, the person who defines themselves as the epitome of a company and the carrier of company spirit chooses to rise to the position of CEO in the ranks of a company.

Naturally self-definitions don’t always have to deal with what we do. Some people define themselves by the family they are part of, the family they have, the partner they are in love with, the child they are raising. Some people choose to define themselves by their surroundings, their town and/or their country. Over the years, for example, many people have come and lived in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Some are born in the province, some are CFAs (Come From Aways) but not everyone turns around years later and introduces themselves as “a Newfoundlander”. This is one of my definitions. I choose to define myself as a Newfoundlander; it is how I wish to be known, no matter the immediate label someone may want to place on me simply by my Indian appearance and my somewhat British accent.

More dangerously sometimes we define ourselves by how others have chosen to label us. Our physical definitions can almost always be seen as acquiescence to a label or our rebellion to a negative label. The person who is labeled as “fat” may attempt to re-define themselves against this label. They may choose to introduce themselves as being part of a gym, a running group or other “active” collection so that those they encounter will not immediately label in the way they feel they are perceived.

There is no doubt there is power in labels. Just like the rain that gets us wet, the mirror that is other people’s perceptions are crucial in how we function and our internal happiness. However, the labels that we endure have very little power compared to how we choose to define ourselves. Those critical first searches in our mind for how do I introduce myself to a stranger gives us clues as to what we hold important and dear in our lives in any given context. After all, that introduction gives the person context and the power with which to prejudge and label you.

So how do you choose to define yourself? What do you subconsciously consider yourself to be? To what do you hold allegiance, in whose lives do you feel a part? What hidden labels do you wish to get rid of by choosing positive definitions?

You ask about me, how do I define myself? Do you think I’m crazy enough to divulge my secrets on the Internet… really… what do you think I am?

I’ve never been the biggest fan of social networking sites. A lot of my workmates are on LinkedIn, a network of professionals. It’s supposed to create networks that will help you connect to other professionals in your field or industry. Then there’s the biggest of them all: MySpace. So it seems fun and all, but I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m crazy, but MySpace seems like some giant billboard service.

However, I am now completely and totally addicted to Facebook. For some time Facebook was mostly popular in schools and universities allowing you to create networks and groups for people to interact. Now they’ve opened up to the rest of the world and I’m hooked.

Why is it so good?

The concept of what computer social networking is inside of Facebook jives with my idea of human social networking. Your profile is only visible to your friends, you can select who and what people see. Most importantly it’s the little things that it does which makes it work. There is minimal advertising, the interface is clean if sometimes not the most intuitive placement in links, and it is responsive. It shows me what is happening with my friends and that is the most important thing.

So yes, I totally encourage you all to try it out. I’ve created a St. Patrick’s Day Drunk Dial group and intend to keep the whole thing updated. I’ve run into a ton of old friends and acquaintances and the group like nature of it is very neat. It reminds me of being in University and I guess that is the point!

On the way west across Newfoundland on the Trans Canada Highway, you will happen on a town called Come By Chance. If you take a right there and go north (supposedly passing the aptly-named Spread Eagle Peak) you will hit the wonderfully-named town of Dildo. There used to be a whaling plant in Dildo but I suspect a major financial woe for the town’s citizens these days might be replacing the oft nicked town signs. I can’t imagine why.

A few months ago, I was spending an afternoon at Corey and Donna’s apartment flipping through a copy of Macleans magazine and as usual criticizing every part of it when I happened upon a couple column inches of true hilarity. I vowed that I would have to blog it.

The question you might ask is why it took so long?

The answer is bloody simple. I’ve been wondering if I have the balls to write about dildos.

You see, Macleans had written about last year’s Football World Cup in Berlin and the sudden appearance of a “David Beckham” Dildo. Oh yes, some enterprising person had decided that what women really wanted was a sex toy sold with Beckham’s name. I couldn’t help but actually do some research (hey, I spent a lot of time in university doing research, it’s an addiction). Admittedly a sex toy with Posh Spice would probably have had more appeal to my male psyche, but the whole thing got me thinking. Now, please humour me here. It’s time for full disclosure, I am not a woman and I have never used a dildo.

Well, I began to wonder what celebrity dildos might actually be about. Was it just a regular old-fashioned dildo with Beckham’s name printed on it, or was it something much more enterprising? Had they perhaps created a sex toy in the image of Beckham itself? Naturally, one should never head down this line of thinking lest one be judged insane.

I began thinking up even crazier sex toys with celebrities. How about dildos that spoke to the user. Perhaps Beckham, Pitt and other stars could lend their voices? Heck Cruise could speak about Scientology while taking the women towards L. Ron Hubbard’s spaceship in the sky. Could there be one of Samuel L. Jackson spouting up the famous line from Pulp Fiction about walking into the valley of death as his head vibrates in a circle enacting the Exorcist? How about singing Dildos? Maybe the latest American Idol winner (that white-haired dude, haven’t a clue what his name is) crooning to you in a vibrating lullaby? Heck it might make that show actually worth something!

You could even start a line of Todd McFarlane-like collectible dildos. You could get the entire set of the Rolling Stones, or the Beatles, or the Jackson Five, heck maybe even the Bush Administration. Oh wait. I just went too far didn’t I? The thought of a vibrating Dick, and I mean Cheney here… sorry ladies, wasn’t thinking clearly.

Okay so sue me, I have a twisted imagination and likely need help. Then again… anyone want to start a business venture?